The Golden State bleeds

Nearly three weeks ago, seven people died 11 miles from Carlmont High School.

The Half Moon Bay mass shooting on Jan. 23 was a horrific but not uncommon product of gun violence. Gun-related deaths in California have spanned “Eight days, 25 dead,” as The Guardian quantified in a recent headline. Our golden state will forever be tinted a crimson hue by the loss of life this past month.

Some grieve. Others face a stifling paralysis. Many are quick to politicize death; in a time of such tragedy, we find ourselves more divided than ever.

It seems as though we’ve forgotten how to feel. Wounds from injustice and illness scar our society — the figurative skin might heal, but we stitch ourselves up with desensitization to protect from future trauma. Maybe this is a futile attempt to explain away our cynical reactions to the news; people are no longer surprised when abysmal headlines flash across screens.

The worse it gets, the less we can stand to care. The closer it gets, the more afraid we become. Even in this state of fear, there is a recognizable rejection of a violent stereotype: as the gun violence epidemic spreads, the demographics of perpetrators are expanding.

We’d gotten comfortable with the common narrative: a young white man who slipped through the cracks of the education system, the undiagnosed mental illness, the easy access to firearms, but what about the 6-yearold who shot his teacher in Virginia? Or the Chinese farm worker, forced to live in inhumane conditions? Wherever there is a gun, there is a threat.

We should be safe here. Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence analyzed California’s firearm legislation in 2022 and deemed it the state with the “strongest gun laws.” Clearly, this is not enough — people are still dying. The battle to save lives cannot be fought with legislation alone.

Yes, guns kill people, and people pull the trigger. While it sounds easier to rid our society of weapons instead of hatred, ending gun violence will take a radical removal of both. How do we go about doing this? None of us are entirely sure.

These musings are not intended to discredit the admirable work being done to rid our community of gun-related deaths. Strides are being taken to a better future, but we still have a long way to go.

Maybe together, we will come closer to finding a solution.

If there are any thoughts you would like to share, please scan the QR code below to fill out a guest opinion form.

On behalf of The Highlander editorial staff and the Carlmont Journalism program, we encourage you to utilize the resources below if you are interested in learning more about gun violence prevention or need mental health services during this time.

Students Demand Action: https://studentsdemandaction.org/

Mills-Peninsula Behavioral Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse: (650) 696-4005

National Mental Health Hotline: (866) 903-3787